# Southern Tigers beat Cambodia’s Beoungkey Angkor 3-0
# Felda United fall to Tampines Rovers in Singapore
By Rizal Abdullah
Former champions Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) got off to roaring start to their AFC Cup campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cambodia champions Beoungket Angkor in a Group F match at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Bahru on Tuesday.
It was a much needed win for the Southern Tigers after their shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Perak in a Malaysian Super League match in Ipoh last Saturday – painful defeat that shattered their 25-match unbeaten run in the league stretching back to 2015.
Last year JDT won the Super League title for a record third year with an unbeaten record.
Gabriel Guerra, who played for PKNS FC in the Premier League last year, opened the floodgates after only two minutes of play – finding the Cambodian net with a delightful left footed curling shot from inside the box.
Another new signing Nazmi Faiz Mansor increased the tally to 2-0 on 10 minutes when he put the finishing touches to S. Kunanlan’s cross from the right.
However, that early firepower fizzled out after the two goals and Beoungket Angkor fought their way back but failed with their finishing – either stopped by the woodwork or the hardworking JDT backline. JDT keeper Izham Tarmizi was also in form to deny the visitors.
Skipper Safiq Rahim finalised the score with the the third goal – which came via a header from a Hazwan Bakri’s cross after the latter had made the in-roads into the Cambodian penalty. Beoungket Angkor are the Cambodian League champions.
JDT coach Benjamin Mora his team’s win as a “confidence booster” and is looking for a good outing in the tournament. For the record JDT won the AFC Cup in 2015 and along the way wrote Malaysian football history as the first team from Malaysia to win the Asian title – with a 1-0 win over FC Istiklol in the final in Dushanbe.
Beoungket Angkor head coach Anthony McGlynn lamented on his team’s “missed opportunities” despite creating the chances.
“The two early goals made the difference too…we did want it to happen this way ,” said McGlynn after the match.
In another Group F match Philippines’ champions Global FC edged Myanmar’s Magwe FC 1-0 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. Global skipper, international Misagh Bahadoran found the winner with a close range effort in the 19th minute.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s other representative in the AFC Cup competition Felda United were beaten 2-1 by Singapore’s Tampines Rovers in a Group G match played at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Tampines got their win with goals by their foreign import Son Yong-chan in the 64th minute before Singapore international Khairul Amri got the second in the 82nd with a close range effort after coming on as a substitute on 70 minutes.
Felda pulled one back in the 86th minute also through a substitute Fazrul Hazli Kadri whose long range effort beat Tampines goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud all the way.
RESULTS
GROUP F
JDT (Mas) 3 Beoungket Angkor (Cam) 0
Global FC (Phi) 1 Magwe FC (Mya) 0
GROUP G
Hanoi FC (Vie) 1 Ceres Negros (Phi) 1
Tampines Rovers (Sin) 2 Felda United (Mas) 1
